He started his journalism career in 1992 as a freelance writer for Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest daily national newspaper and soon specialised in air transport. Jens joined Aviation Week and Aviation Daily in 2000 as one of the European correspondents. Later his role was expanded to cover international air transport. In 2013 he was named Managing Editor Commercial.
Jens frequently appears on radio and TV to comment on industry matters. In 2003, he received the Hugo Junkers Award of the German aviation press for his coverage of Fairchild Dornier’s bankruptcy. He was named the country’s top travel and air transport writer by the Travel Industry Club three times. Jens graduated from the Munich School of Journalism.
The cause of the crash of Air France Flight 447 could start coming into sharper focus soon, with the French air accident investigation office, the BEA, planning to provide a new interim report during the summer.
A ruling by a World Trade Organization appeals body contains good news for both Boeing and Airbus in the long-standing battle between the U.S. and European Union over large commercial aircraft subsidies. As has become standard in the multi-step process, both sides declared victory after the ruling, although there are no clear winners. The appeal was to DS316, the case the U.S. brought against Airbus ahead of the counterclaim, DS353, for which the appeals process is still ongoing.
Air France-KLM expects to improve its operating results further this year after the airline group managed a €1.4 billion ($2 billion) profit swing in fiscal 2010-2011. As the group seeks to reduce gearing further, the airline decided not to pay a dividend this year despite the better financial performance. Management plans to ask shareholders at their July 7 meeting to change the financial year-end to Dec. 31 to be better aligned with other airlines. Air France-KLM’s fiscal year currently ends on March 31.
